Everett finishes second at regional tournament

SEATTLE — Much like in last week’s district tournament, the Everett wrestling team finished just shy of earning first place in the overall team results behind Ferndale, losing 149.5-147 in the 3A Region I Tournament on Saturday at Nathan Hale H.S.

“Ferndale did outstanding,” said Everett head coach Brien Elliot. “I was laughing about this last week with the Ferndale coach about finishing first and second and saying ‘Hey let’s do this again next week’. It’s not as funny now that it actually happened, but it’s good to see Everett and Ferndale do so well.”

The Seagulls had just one first-place finisher on Saturday despite finishing in second place. Quentin Watson took top honors in the 145-pound division by defeating Ferndale’s Ben Broselle 8-3. Bryan Sanchez was able to finish second at 120 pounds to round out the top Everett finishers.

Marysville Pilchuck finished in third place, while Oak Harbor took fourth and Stanwood fifth.

The individual matchups were highlighted by the 132-pound final between Oak Harbor’s Jeremy Vester and Eastside Catholic’s Matt Iwicki, the defending state champion at 120 pounds. With the match tied 2-2 going into the final round, Vester used the final 90 seconds to gain control of the match, scoring five points to Iwicki’s one to earn the 7-3 victory.

“We’ve been seeing Matt for weeks,” said Wildcats head coach Peter Esvelt. “He beat Jahleel, Jeremy’s older brother, in a tournament previously so we knew what he had. And to be honest, Jeremy Vester has a great scramble and it’s two great wrestlers. As a wrestling fan, win or lose, that’s the best match you’re ever going to see in a wrestling tournament.”

Vester’s view on his 132-pound championship mirrored coach Esvelt’s.

“When I started I was nervous, cause you know he’s state champ,” Vester said. “I knew (the match) had to flow. He’s a muscle-wrestler; he’s really strong so I knew I had to have movement.”

Not to be outdone the older Vester sibling finished on top of the 138-pound division, defeating Bainbridge’s Jack Miller.

“Jahleel is a contrast to his brother,” Esvelt said. “Jeremy is motion, Jahleel is a lot more pragmatic. He goes through his progressions going into every match and after every match he gets a little bit better.”

Marysville Pilchuck saw two contrasting final matches with the Tomahawks’ Drew Hatch battling Stanwood’s Anthony Ortega at 170 pounds. Hatch pinned Ortega in 3 minutes and 45 seconds. The 160-pound final saw a different result with Killian Page earning a 13-0 major decision over Everett’s Pablo Yeo.

“That’s where Killian is at his best,” said Marysville Pilchuck head coach Craig Iversen. “He’s a phenomenal athlete he does better when the match picks up. He had two different take downs before a near fall so that was exactly the kind of match he wanted.”

The Tomahawks will be taking seven wrestler’s into next week’s Mat Classic XXVI in the Tacoma Dome. Oak Harbor also will bring all seven of their participants from Saturday’s regionals, with Everett taking the most in school history with nine.